A warrior's mission is to seek out discomfort!
"Do not seek out comfort but rather seek out discomfort" is a samurai philosophy worth thinking about. If you are trying to get to the next level in any endeavor, you have to seek out what takes you out of where you are comfortable. Remaining comfortable where you are at will keep you from changing and growing. This is very true of elevating your martial arts abilities and most other things in life as well.
It is common to hear people complain about how much they hate doing cardio because of how boring it is. What they really mean to say is that they are lacking the resolve to push through their own mental discomfort. To deal with this, many swap their cardio routine with something they may enjoy, listen to music, or even watch television while exercising. Myself, I prefer to fully focus on what I am doing especially if it is boring and I hate doing it. If you try to distract yourself from the discomfort you are missing a great opportunity to develop your mental strength and sheer will over your own body. Real conflict is hard. Life itself is hard. Change is hard. The seeds of growth have to be planted in discomfort. Victory is often rewarded to the athlete that is willing to put up with the most discomfort, not necessarily the most skilled or gifted.
Where we are in life is a direct result of our current ways of thinking, and our tolerance for enduring discomfort. When we train our bodies hard, we are not just training our bodies, but our minds and spirits as well. Good or bad, if you are not willing to change your tolerance level of discomfort, you will be stuck where you are at.
During your next training session don't neglect the mental aspect. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable as they say. The flames of adversity lead to growth and shattering plateaus. A lot of combat sport coaches often talk about how cardio wins fights. On the surface it may seem that they are only referring to physical endurance, but they are actually referring to the physical endurance and mental conditioning that comes with it. Try new things. Try new strategies to achieve your goals. Push yourself to a higher standard in life. To live the lifestyle of a warrior, you cannot allow yourself to get too comfortable. Seek out things that are difficult. Keep moving forward. Anything less and you will fall short of your own potential.
Comments